Absorption refrigerating apparatus



June 10, 1930.

E. E. ALLYNE ABSORPTION REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 7, 1929 3Sheets-Sheet l ATTORN EYS `lune 10, 1930. E, E, ALITYNE 1,762,147

ABSORPTION REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 7, 1929 :5 sheets-sheet 2ATTORNEYS June 10, 1930. E; E ALLYNE 1,762,147

ABSORPTION REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. '7, 1929 s sheets-sheet 5f INVEN-roR ATTOR lEY :2f

Patented Juney 10, 1930 I l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ABsoRrrroNREERIGEEATING APPARATUS Application iled February 7, 1929. Serial No.338,177.

This invention relates to refrigerating apinto a cake of ice to formaflywheel for carryparatus of the intermittent .absorption type. ingover from one refrigerating period to the The object of this inventionis to improve other. Below the bottom of the rear pan the constructionand operation of refrigeraportion and the front pan portion is a retorsor iceboxes employing the absorption frigerating unit or grid alsoarranged in an 50 principle with particular reference to the upper rearand lower front grid portion, the

construction and arrangement of the evaporear portion being bathed topovide a circuitrator and the arrangement of its parts in suit-.. ousroute for the refrigerant, either liquid or able compartments orchambers for the purgas, as it flows to and fromthe storage, this poseof carrying' over from one refrigerating circuitous.k route beingconnected in parallel 55 period to the other with as slight a rise in tothe forward portion of the grid.A The rear temperature-as possibleduring the lapse of upper portion engages the underside of therefrigeration, or in other words, during the rear vtank portion and is,therefore, in close' heating period. heat conducting relation withrespect to it,

` Briefly stated, the foregoing object is acso that the heat of anyrefrigerant passing 60 complished by providing the refrigerating fromthe storage to the grid could be readily chamber casing. with an upperstorage comabsorbed and at the saine time the flywheel partment separatefrom the refrigerating may readily absorb any heat present in thechamber and adapt-ed to `receive a refrigerant box. The forward lowergrid portion is 2o storage, the insulation between this chamspaced fromthe bottom of the forward por- 65- ber and the refrigerating chamberbeing tion vof the pan to provide a chamber for ice heat insulating butless effective than the cube containers. Below and at the front thenormal heat insulation on the outside of the grid is provided with asuitableheat insulat- K boX to permitaslow'transfer of heat through 'ingfloor or partitions provided with a lip the insulation and into thestorage compartin f rontof the grid and serving to permit free 70 mentfrom the v refrigerating compartment, access at the front of the box tothe cube conthe rate of transfer delaying any passage. of tainercompartment. This cube container heat during the heating period from theCompartment is closed by a suitableV inner storage to the refrigeratingIcompartment. door which may be swung downwardly when In the furtherdevelopment of the object of the -main refrigerator door is open. At the75 the inventionthe upper part of the refrigeratrear of the box and ofthe ice cube comparting chamber below thestorage compartment ment justdescribed, is an additional ice conis provided with a heat absorber inthe form tainer structure comprising a support hinged of a somewhatshallow pan extending across at the ba'ckl of the box and adapted toswing the back with an integral ldepressed panporcompartment. Thishinged support, when tion or casing closed at the top and communiinproper "position, sustains a relatively large eating with the moreShallow forward por-y ice pan which las its mouth nesting` up aboutt1on. The depression of the rear jpan porthe rear portion of the heatabsorberandexa 4o tion provides an open space above it and to tends-about the upperrear grid portion. A V85 the rear of the front portionfor the circula"- cover is suitably supported inside of the reartlonandcollection of hot air from the refrig- `pan portion and in apositionto engage the erating chamber. This entire pan containsjunderside of the upper rear' grid portion so a quantity of heatabsorbing liquid which that when the pan is filled with water upto thebox from one side to the other and near up and latch to the'underside ofthe ice cube 8cv preferably may be water adapted'to freeze this cover,heat may be transferred readily 90 i the grid during the heating periodand heat from the box. This bulk ice container not only furnishes aconvenient supply of ice for an icing emergency but also functions as apart of theheat absorber of the flywheel.

The features of the invention thus far brought out and possibly otherswill be readily'understood from the following description, drawings andclaims.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a yvertical section of the boxlooking from the side; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation showing the circuit;Fig. 8 is a front view of the upper portion; Fig. 4 is an enlargedsectional view looking from the side and showing a modified form of icecube arrangement; and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the refrigeratingelement or grid.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings, the box comprises a lowerapparatus casingl having an access opening at the front and aI draftopening at the bottom. This bottom opening is preferably of t-hecomplete area of this compartment. Extending from the front near thebottom toward the top of this compartment is a Hue plate 2 separatingfrom this apparatus con'ipartment a flue chamber 3v which is open to thebottom of the refrigerator on the one hand and to the back of the box aswill appear. Supported 1n this apparatus compartment is a heat insulatedrefrigerating casing 4 having an upper downwardly extending skirt 5 atthe front. Between this skirt and the bottom 0f the refrigerating casingis an opening closed by a suitable door 6 of the usual form. The skirt 5forms an upper storage chamber 7 at the top and this is closed by plate8 of heat insulating material secured in place in any suitable manner.This plate 8 while it is heat insulating on the one hand, itnevertheless should permit some transfer of heat through it to disposeof some of the heat in the box.l

Any suitable intermittent refrigerating circuit may be used but asuitable intermit- Atent absorption circuit is shown in Figs. 1

and 2, and it comprises an air-cooled condenser element 9, a'cylindricalstill 10 arranged horizontally, a cooling loop structure generallyindicated at 11 and communicating by conduits 12 and 13 with the stillall arranged in the apparatus compartment. The still may be providedwith a suitable burner 14;. The top of the still communicates with a gasoutlet and rectifying loop in the form of a pipe l5 which passes up atthe back of the box to the top in a rectifying flue 16 andthencedownwardly into and near the bottom of a closed trap casing 17.This trap casing has a pipe 18 extending out of its top and connected asat 19 to the top of the condenser element. The trap casing 17 is alsoprovided with a pipe 2O extending out of its side about one-third of theway down and leading to the two conduits 12 for returning the gas to theloop during the refrigerating period.

The flue portion 3 communicates with the main Hue 21 extending up theback of the box and open at the top. y

The lower part of the condenser is con- -nected by a pipe 22 withbranches leading to the top of a refrigerant storage 23 of substantiallyannular form, either square or circular, in the storage chamber 7.Extending downwardly from the storage 23 is a refrigage and its grid andyet must be capable of bypassing back to and through the pipe 22 anyboiler liquor which may. be entrained with the gas and collected in theevaporator.

The absorption circuit thus far described has a very familiar operationin that during the heating period gas passes from the still through therectifying loop to the bottom of the trap and below the surface of theliquid collected therein. It bubbles up through the liquid in the trapand passes by the condenser pipe 18 to the top of the condenser which itenters and in which it is condensed and flows through the pipe 22 to theevaporator storage at the top of the refrigerator. The liquidrefrigerant collects in the entire evaporator apparatus and at the endof the heating period and after the proper cooling of the apparatusreturns through the pipe 22 to the condenser, thence to the trap andback through the loop pipe 20 to the loop where it initiates boilerliquor circulation through the loop and promotes cooling and absorption.The various cooling and heating effects necessary for the properoperation of the absorption system are brought about by the-fluearrangement.

The foregoing description has set up the general construction and typeof refrigerator and the description will now proceed with that part ofthe invention which relates to the arrangementof the heat absorberandthe ice cube compartments which serve to prevent all heat effectswithin the refrigerator raising the temperature of the refrigeratingcompartment and ice cubes during the heating period.

Below the evaporator storage and its compartm'ent is a heat absorber inthe form of a forward somewhat shallow central pan portion 28 havingside liquid or water legs 28 extending downward the depth of the icecube compartment as will appear. This forward portion extends from oneside of the box to the other and opens down at the back in a long narrowconduit 29 the full width ofthe box, to a closed rear pan or casing 30which also extends from one side to the other of the box. This rear panor casing 30 may be deeper than the pan portion 28 and both are filledwith `wat'erwhich extends to a point near .the upper edge of the pan'portion 28.

This rear pan portion 30 is closed at its top and there is an airchamber 30 formed above it and to the rearvof the forward portion 28 toprovide a heated air4 circulating and collecting chamber. The rear panportion is the same in dimension across the box as the forward portionas shown in Fig. 3, and thev housing for` the cube chamber, tobedescribed, stops at the rear end of the forward pan portion 28 so thatvertical side'flues are forned past the rear pan portion 3() to the.chamber Below this heat absorber is a refrigerating unit or grit whichcomprises, as shown .in Fig. 5, a tubular rectangular grid structureconsisting of side tube yheaders 31 and 32 and cross-connecting tubesarranged in a forward group of pipes'33, and a rear group 34,

[the rear group being raised as a group in a horizontal plane above theplane of the group 33 by upwardly bendingl the headers 31aud 32 at 35and 36. The refrigerant supply pipe 24 from the storage enters the gridat 37 for example, passes along the back pipe 34 to the Aleft header 31where it passes forward and is pan or casing 30 so as to be in intimateheat transfer relation with respect to it.

The forward lower grid portion is supported upon thevfloor of aheat-insulating housing having an upwardly extending lip 41 extendingalong the front of the grid. This housing also includes side walls 40and a rear wall 40. Between this forward porltion of the grid the.bottom of the forward pan portion 28 and its legs 28 is an ice-cubecompartment for ice-cube containers 42. The front edge of the panportion 28 is provided with a suitable stop'strip 43 and the opening tothe ice-cube compartment thus formed is closed by a suitable inner door44 which is hinged at 45 along itslower edge. The icecube compartment`and its floor or partition 40 extend from one side of the refrigeratingchamber to the other and stop short of the rear at substantiallythefront of the pan portion 30 as shown. In this space there is a bulk icecontainer pan'46 open at the top a nd notched at 47 and 48, Fig. 3, atthe front, to permit the passage of the headers 31 and 32 therethrough.It is alsonotched at the front to receive the pan 30 as shown in Fig. 4.'Ihe sides and back of this bulk ice container nest nicely about thepan/or casing portion 30 so that the heat absorbing characteristic ofthe upper rear portion of the grid is nicely confined to the flywheelabsorber portion 30 and to the bulk pan 46. If desired the bulk pan 46may be provided with cleats 49 at its l:nd supporting a cover 50 whichextends into the pan and hasraised curved recesses 51 which receive thegrid coils. This cover is of such a shape that portions of it extendbelow the surface of the liquid in this bulk container 46 and permitready transfer from the container and liquid to the grid. This bull;container 46 is preferably removable by downward and outward movementand may be held in place by any suitable mechanism, the arrangementshown being in the form of hinged brackets which swing from the back ofthe box to a supporting position under the container 46.

It will be seen from the foregoing that during the cooling period theheat absorber, comprising'the pan portions 28 and 3,0, will be frozen.will also be frozen and likewise the water in the bulk container 46.When the refrigerating cycle ceases and the heating period begins, anyheat 'present in the liquid refrigerant delivered to the storage andpassing to the grid will be absorbed by the flywheel and the bulkcontainer and therefore prevented from reaching the ice cubes. Also anyheat present in the box will pass up about the bulk container and therear portion of the heat absorber and collect in the heat collectingchamber 30' from which it will be absorbed by the fiywheel and the bulkcontainer ice.- It will also be seen that the ice cubes are alwaysbetween the freezing coilsofthe grid below and the ice flywheel aboveand protected against melting during the heating period. In this' waythe temperature of the box will be maintained with little or novariation during the heating period and the ice cubes will be keptintact ready foruse.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the partition 40 is moved down toprovide an additional icecube compartment 55 below the grid coils 33 forcontaining another ice cube pan or container 56. The back of thiscompartment may be suitably closed if desired by a heat insulating wall57 The cubes in the cube containers 42 What I claim is:

l. In a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type, a cabinet'comprising a casing having a refrigerating chamber and an upperrefrigerant storage chamber heat insulated from the refrigeratingchamber, a refrigerant. storage in said storage chamber, a heat absorberadjacent toand below the storage compartment and comprising a forward portion extending subst-antlally from one side of the box to the otherand a rear portion wherein the heat absorber is in the form of a panextending across the refrigerating chamber and communicating with alower heat transfer relation with respect to the refrigerating coilsbelow the rear portion of said heat absorber, comprising a pan extendingup about the coils and nesting about the rear portion of the heatabsorber, and a cover within said bulk pan and provided withporf tionsextending into the liquid thereinl and other portions contacting withthe coilsvof the refrigerating eIement.

In testimony' whereof I hereby ailix my signature.A

EDMUND E. ALLYNE.

closedl casing at the rear ,to provide a heat collecting chamber aboveand at the rear.

3. Refrigerating apparatuses in claim 1 wherein the heat absorber is inthe form of a pan extending across the box with downwardly extendinglegs at the sides and a de- -pressed closed rear portion in liquidcommunication with the front portion.

4. Refrigerating apparatus of the type set forth in claim 1 wherein. therefrigerating element is in the form of a grid including a horizontalrow of tubes in heattransfer relation with the rear portion of said heatabsorber and a depressed front row spaced from the bottom of saidforward portion of the heat absorber, the latter to provide a space forice cube containers.

5|. Refrigerating apparatus of the type set forth in claim 1 wherein therefrigerating element is in the form of a grid including a horizontalrow of tubes in heat transfer relation with the rear portion ofsaid heatabsorber and a depressed front row spaced from the bottom of saidforward portion of the heat absorber, the latter to provide a space forice cube containers, and 'another container for freezing liquid arrangedbelow and in heat transfer relationwith respect to the refrigeratingcoils below the rear portion of said heat absorber.

6. Refrigerating apparatus of the type set forth in claim '1 wherein therefrigerating elementis in the form of a grid including a horizontal rowof tubes lin heat transfer relation with therear portion of said heatabsorber and a depressed front row spaced from the bottom of saidforward portion of the heat absorber, the latter to provide a space forice cube containers, and another container for freezing -liquid arrangedbelow and in n

